Dynamic Delivery overview
The Dynamic Delivery (aka “Ice Cream Truck”) functionality between Dutchie Ecommerce and POS enables dispensaries to expose menus of unsold inventory for active delivery vehicles through embedded Dutchie menus. Through exposure of real-time inventory to end consumers and automatic dispatching functionality, dispensaries are able to offer an “express” experience where shoppers are able to trade extensive menu selection for the opportunity to receive product from a vehicle currently in their neighborhood. Based on the workflow and technology stack of each dispensary, there are a number of dynamic delivery methods (zone vs. GPS) and touchpoints available to create the ideal customer experience.
Note: Dynamic delivery is only available in California and Michigan.
To enable dynamic delivery for your dispensary, reach out to your Dutchie Customer Success Manager. If you are using Dutchie Plus, see the developer documentation.
Zone-Based Dynamic Delivery
Zone-Based Dynamic Delivery is available for dispensaries that would like to assign a delivery vehicle to a pre-defined territory and enable customers within that territory to browse inventory and submit orders. The essential pieces of a zone-based experience include:
- Delivery vehicle has dedicated inventory room in Dutchie POS and menu on Dutchie ecommerce
- Each vehicle is confined to a determined delivery zone that is configured within ecom menu settings
- If customer delivery address is inside of a configured vehicle zone, they are shown menu of products from the applicable vehicle in that zone
Using the above map as a zone-based example, imagine that the distribution hub (house icon) is close to downtown Los Angeles. Meanwhile two dynamic delivery vehicles are on the road covering respective zones. Vehicle 1 is covering the Santa Monica neighborhood (red zone) and Vehicle 2 is covering Venice (black zone). A dispensary using this model is able to offer customers traditional, scheduled delivery from the hub while also presenting an express offering for the neighborhood zones by enabling Santa Monica customers to view an express menu from Vehicle 1 and Venice customers to view an express menu from Vehicle 2.
GPS-Based Dynamic Delivery
GPS-Based Dynamic Delivery enables delivery vehicles to free roam around a larger zone and presents the menu of the nearest on-duty vehicle to the browsing customer via an integration with Onfleet. This functionality is supported through:
- Delivery vehicle has dedicated inventory room in Dutchie POS and menu on Dutchie ecommerce
- GPS location is available to Dutchie when driver goes on-duty via Onfleet integration
- If customer delivery address is inside general delivery operation zone, they are shown menu of products from the nearest on-duty vehicle
In an example of a GPS-based configuration, multiple trucks are able to free roam within a larger, delivery-eligible zone and are constantly sharing their real-time location with Dutchie. If an ordering customer would like to order express from the dispensary and they are based within the larger delivery zone, once an address is provided they will be shown the menu of the on-duty truck that is nearest to them at that point in time. If for some reason the dispensary dispatcher determines that the order submitted by the customer should not go to the nearest vehicle, they have the ability to dispatch the order to a different vehicle through the Delivery tab in the POS.
Important: Onfleet is a required integration to support this style of Dynamic Delivery.
Dynamic Elements
In order to provide a seamless Dynamic Delivery experience to both ordering customer and dispensary fulfillment alike, there are a number of platforms required to work together, including:
- Native Dispensary Website - The consumer experience presented by the dispensary that includes the embedded Dutchie dynamic delivery search window and/or embedded Dutchie standard menus for each dynamic vehicle is a foundational component to the dynamic delivery offering.
- Ecommerce (Dutchie) - Menus hosted by Dutchie are connected to each dynamic vehicle and intelligently served to the customer based on the Dynamic Delivery variant chosen by the dispensary. Ecommerce menus powered natively by the dispensary or any non-Dutchie provider are not currently supported by the Dynamic Delivery functionality.
- Point-of-Sale - Vehicle inventory, order dispatch/fulfillment, and tendering of the sale all flow through the POS. Additionally, dispatchers are able to make adjustments to order contents, discounts, and state compliance documents directly through this system. Point-of-sale systems other than Dutchie POS are not currently supported by the Dynamic Delivery functionality. The POS is necessary for in vehicle operations such as pre-order allocation and manifest viewing and the optimal recommended experience for drivers is the use of a wireless tablet running the POS4 website.
- Final Mile Software (Onfleet) - Through the use of Onfleet’s Driver App, real-time coordinates of driver location are passed through the platforms and used to determine the nearest vehicle to the browsing customer. Depending on the dispensary’s final mile workflow, orders are also able to be passed back down to the app to assist the driver with task management. Onfleet is only required for GPS-Based Dynamic Delivery and is not required for Zone-Based Dynamic Delivery.